[Simon O]

Does anyone have any practical tips on halter-training lambs? I am trying to get a ewe lamb and a ram lamb ready to show at the Smallholder fetival in a month. They come to the bucket but are not trained to take treats from the hand. I have heard people say that sheep like a little bit of a digestive biscuit but mine don't seem to.

[Pipsa]

I have used horse treats for sheep as well - they seem to like them ?
This year I had two foster lambs and partly for fun I halter trained them ( or they walk on dog leads!). Now in the summer I have been rather busy and haven't had time / any need to walk with them (as they have living happily in paddock). Today after a long break I needed to wash the messy bottom of one of them and I was so pleased how nicely and well he still walked on the lead !! I could walk him to the yard easily, wash him and take him back without any problems - I felt so proud ! and now he has the cleanest/ shiniest bottom of all the sheep (:

[Bionic]

I have found that if they come to the bucket you can slip the halter over their head by sort of putting it round the bucket and then over their head when they stick it in the bucket. With mine I did this a couple of times and then found they don't take much notice.

[Rosemary]

Our like oatcakes 

[Foobar]

I would say it's easier to halter train a sheep than it is to train a sheep to let you put a halter on it!

[ZaktheLad]

I would say it's easier to halter train a sheep than actually work out which way those slip rope halters have to go on in the first place   

[Bionic]

I would say it's easier to halter train a sheep than actually work out which way those slip rope halters have to go on in the first place   

Oh, definitely agree with this 

[Fleecewife]

I would say it's easier to halter train a sheep than actually work out which way those slip rope halters have to go on in the first place   

I hate those rope halters.  They cut into the nose and twist.  You can get flat woven halters like dog collars online (but not actual dog collars as sheep walk differently on a collar than a halter).  You can also get the kind of halter which stays on the sheep and you clip the lead part on and off, which sounds easier to me - the sheep will quickly get used to the halter part so in theory when you attach the lead it will hardly notice.
 
I think it's the left side of the sheep you stand, so it's on your right - but that might be back to front - you can tell it's years since I have shown sheep on a halter - not sure I want to do it now. Hebs don't need a reputation of poofy fluffy lapsheep.   
Primitive lambs in particular have a tendency to throw themselves upside down, or lie flat to the ground and play dead.
 
For treats we use a small handful of Tup and Lamb in the pocket, then reward them with tiny bits if they're good.  They tend to want to follow the pocket, where they can smell the food. 
Simon - if you want them to like digestives you have to train them to them, by pushing a small bit of biscuit into their mouth from the side, and eventually they realise how tasty they are.  But they're not good for their teeth, so Tup and Lamb is better.  We like our sheep to recognise digestives in case they are ill when they are a wonderful standby to keep the rumen going and provide a bite of energy and fibre.
 
What doesn't work is to drag the sheep along by the halter, so at first wait until it walks, then walk with it, stop when it stops.
 
But I'm not the one to give advice, because I so rarely do it.

[ZaktheLad]

I like the sound of those halters you just clip the lead on and off - must have a little search on Google 

[Foobar]

Yeah I would advise if you have sheep with horns then defo get a non-rope halter (the ones like a horse head collar) they are much faster to get on! (I can recommend these: http://www.llugwy-farm.co.uk/tackroom/sheep_headcollars.asp)


As for halter training, this is how I do it ...
Get the halter on.
Start trying to lead the sheep around (I do this in the same field where the other sheep are, sometimes it helps if they are around, esp with lambs as I think they feel more secure when their friends are near)
Sheep will throw itself around like crazy or lie solid on the ground (as Fleecewife says), so resort to plan B. Sometimes though they will just walk, which is great!
Plan B:
Try to get it back on it's feet!
Hold the rope (securely) at the very end, or better still tie another rope on the end so that you can be even further away.
Firmly pull on the rope, facing the sheep so that it comes towards you.  As soon as the sheep takes a foot step in your direction, relax the rope (but not too much, just enough to take the pressure off the sheep).
Re-apply the pressure so that the sheep takes another step, again relax as soon as they do.
Repeat many times, until they a) walk for longer without stopping and b) you can work your way up the rope so that you are closer to them and they will walk beside you.
You might need to repeat this process on several occasions, to re-affirm the training.  Note that, it is always best to end a training session on a positive note, so if they do a good walk then end it there straight away, and give them a treat. This will also help to reinforce the training.

[ladyK]

I'm just in the process of halter training my Soays too - thanks everyone for the info here!

I did actually get my headcollars from Lugwy Farm as recommended above (very well made, and they do a Soay-specific size too), and I have a daft question: where do you clip on the rope/lead? There is no separate ring for it so I assume you clip it to one of the buckles by the nose band, but would the clip then not cause discomfort as it wouldn't lie flat against the face as the headcollar does? 

[Foobar]

where do you clip on the rope/lead? There is no separate ring for it so I assume you clip it to one of the buckles by the nose band, but would the clip then not cause discomfort as it wouldn't lie flat against the face as the headcollar does? 

Yeah, I'm with you on that - I tend to use either the ring under the chin or by the side of the mouth.  Neither are really as good as when you are using a rope halter.  I guess the idea is that the sheep does as it's told and walks nicely so that you don't have to yank it about and thus make the ring/clip dig in.

[feldar]

I like to use the rope halters on the Hampshires because they stay on better than the flat ones.
Lead sheep from the left. this means the rope bits come out from under the chin on the left hand side.
I start by tieing mine all up in a row on the gate and leave them to pull about a bit first. This way they learn that the can't get the halter off ( they can't if you've put it on right!) but never ever leave them alone when doing this in case the get hung up or the halter slips down and cuts off their airway over the nose.
Keep touching them along their backs, necks, bottoms. Keep checking halters.
Gradually move on to letting them walk about with you slightly behind them so they naturally move away from you.
If they start to pull about or throw themselves around try to  check them a little or retie to a fence or gate and go back to touching them again.
Move on to getting them used to moving onwards by touching their back whist on the halter in a smallish area. don't bash or hit them to move them this just creates tension.
Done daily they soon get used to it. But remember it like training a young horse, little and often is the key keep the session short and finish on a high point.
Don't loose your temper, because a stressed animal will always win. and is does help if they are halfway to being quiet before you start ( digestive biscuits)

[Simon O]

Thanks a lot everyone there is a lot of good info here to work on. Those woven halters sound handy - the sheep seem to have become a bit more settled when the rope halter is on, but more wary about getting it on in the first place - and as stated it is a problem to get it right. Usually I end up with the rope coming out the wrong side and it is a helluva job getting it off and on again the right way round. Mary is the lie down and play dead type whereas Magnus is the bucking bronco. No Juliet I don't WANT them to take digestives I just thought I had read that these were commonly used as a treat because they like them. I would prefer to just use some of the ordinary food - ewe and lamb - and I know they take this anyway. I will just keep working daily or as near daily as I can manage with some of the techniques suggested here. If you see a couple of panda-faced sheep flying around Lanark Market hall with flailing ropes behind and an irate person in hot pursuit at the SS and GF you will know that my training has not succeeded

[Simon O]

Well Magnus is starting to get the idea once the halter is on but getting it on is not so easy and getting progressively worse. Tonight he was very wary and stayed about 10 yards away from a feed bucket when he usually wires right in. He finally came when I was about to give up and I managed to grab him with a flying leap. Here he is tonight: he likes to parade up and down in front of the ladies and the neutered males, showing off. Nutmeg was helping.